I saw this NBC10.com story linked through Yahoo! News, and got a really good laugh:

“Earlier this week, it was reported that some airlines were considering charging passengers based on their weight. Then, an advertisement in Friday’s Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily News suggested flying from Philadelphia to Denver for $1.90 per pound — roundtrip fare based on total weight of passenger and passenger luggage.

The Web site calls Derrie-Air the world’s first carbon-neutral airline.”

The more you weigh, the more you pay! An interesting concept, and a humorous pulling-of-the-leg approach to marketing.

The article goes on to quote Philadelphia Media Holdings spokesman Jay Devine, who explained that the goal is to “demonstrate the power of our brands in generating awareness and generating traffic for our advertisers, and put a smile on people’s faces.’”

So the folks at Philadelphia Media Holdings got a chance to sample potential lead conversion, collect some great statistics comparing ad response in different media, showcase their reach into the target market, and have some fun while generating a bunch of smiles.

One lesson I see here is that your marketing message can be more than bludgeoning your target market with “frequency of mention”. A good laugh and a smile will get you noticed, and remembered too.

Steve Lange
Palo Alto Software